Good morning/afternoon/evening Mr. Dorkin, itās me again.
How would the Eltingville Club react if they met a trans person? Coming from a trans person, with a trans OCā¦. Thanks
I'd have to say that as kids, they probably would have had a negative reaction to a trans person. Sorry to say, but that's how I see them reacting. Not violently, not hateful, but definitely weirded out (for lack of a better term), because they don't like/understand anything different in their fandom or the real world. Things are supposed to be a certain way to them, their attitude about their hobby extends to some aspects of the real world, they like canon, original concepts and appearances, the original actors in roles, etc, everything defined and definitive. And people are supposed to be what they were born as. Growing up in Eltingville (Staten Island) as they did, with their upbringing, I see them as provincial and close-minded like a lot of people I grew up with. Overall, they don't even really comprehend sexuality, gender, race, religion, political views or lifestyle. It's not part of their insular (fictional, exaggerated). If you notice they almost never talk about anything that's real. No politics or cultural conversations, no real introspection or curiosity about anything outside their fan interests. So, it's kind of hard to "write" their responses to real world things/questions. I never had to think about these things until I opened up my DMs to questions. So, I don't have a solid grasp of how I'd write them in a hypotehtical story where the teen versions needed to deal with a trans person. The epilogue versiions have a mean-spiritied conversation about cosplayers, and make a shitty remark about a crossdressing, possibly trans Catwoman (which comes from an actual shitty situation that happened at a NYC con many years ago, where DC Comics employees were all over a Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman cosplayer, taking photos, complimenting her and flirting, until someone realized it was a guy and they treated them like they had anthrax). What was a rarely intrudes on their fantasy world. Which is why the real world rarely intrudes in the comics, they try to avoid dealing with it. The real world is scary to them and that's why escapism/fandom is their world.
All that being said, epilogue Jerry is a welcoming, non-judgemental person who is comfortable, friendly and supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community. Josh probably doens't even know trans people exist because of his exaggerated comic book laser-focused, vapor-locked insular life. Bill hates everyone. Pete...huh...Pete might actually be okay with trans folks. I can't quite translate my gut feelings about him to really write something that makes sense off the cuff. Something about horror, and the people attracted to it, and his sense of community might be some factors. While he acts like a shitbird under the sway of Butchie, I see their circles having a mix of people and him not having any issues with anyone. I know that's inarticulate, but I feel like he'd be okay with the many types of people he meets in the horror fandom and that transfers to people outside of it, as well. People wanting to be whoever they want and look however they want sounds like it would actually appeal to post-teenager Pete, especially as he encounters different people. And it would be rebelling against his family, there's that aspect of accepting different people. I always saw his family as very bigoted. Anyway, hope some of that makes some sense!
